My extended views - Recession in the Indian Animation industry?!! Don’t press the panic button just as yet.

Below are my extended views on the post i came across on this blog.

So if you haven't yet read the original post(including the comments) , i seriously suggest you do that before to understand what i am talking about and in what context.

So now, once you know whats the topic is all about, read further to know what i feel about the whole issue.

Totally agree with Rama and Rishikesh. They made some good points. Here is my few minutes worth of thoughts -

Without sounding too harsh or pessimistic, i think the very question of "whether we can make films like PIXAR or better than PIXAR" which is being asked in Indian studios/forums/events should be avoided from with immediate effect.

Such a question is deserving to studios say like BlueSky, Dreamworks and so on and not to us....at least not yet !

Enthusiasm, passion, optimism is all fine, but lets be realistic. I am hearing such questions since about last 3-4 years of my time spent in the industry. Have things changed dramatically ? Have we covered a lot of ground and being closer to PIXAR ?

If we have moved ahead by 10 steps, PIXAR has moved ahead 1000 steps or even more. My point is this comparison is so very ir-relevant in our context. A fresher who is doing some course in Animation, comes to events where this question is repeatedly asked, hears the "YESSES" from everyone and thinks - "wow, so many YESSSES from so many people...we must be good, this is the field i want my career for...i should soon start sending my stuff to studios for work, this is my chance to be a part of this" !

Clearly the awareness of how an animation feature is made, how much goes into it is clearly clearly missing. PIXAR is not some studio who churns out breakthrough movies consistently...its PIXAR after all ! Try to understand the gravity of their work !

Yes story is essential but more than that its an amalgamation of story, teamwork, attitude, management, planning, passion...just to name a few factors.

The problem is that where Indians shine, India fails. As individuals we work our best, but collaboratively we work worst. I dont even want to go behind whats the reason for this...its a different and much deeper issue alltogether.

So please for your own sake, stop these comparisons, let us aspire to first improve our work with each passing year. Remember PIXAR is also constantly re-inventing itself, so if we have to match PIXAR, we will have to work much more than PIXAR does each moment. And its not just one movie from PIXAR which did well, they been doing it consistently for so many years !

So the question of "whether we can match PIXAR or even overtake them " ...the answer clearly is NO, sometime in future ? MAYBE. You can interpret my answer in anyway you wish...you may think i am a pessimist, you may think why i am so against our work and so on. Its good to aspire, good to have a goal, but we need to be realistic and honest to ourselves also. Its time to be as objective as a doctor is when he treating someone. Patient will only be cured if all the facts are presented the way it is and not the way the patient wants it to be.

If you ask me -

1. Whether we can create animated movies which are really entertaining and really good in terms of animation and overall story and subject wise ?

2. Whether we have the talent ?

3. Whether we have a market for indian animated films much like live-action movies?

4. Whether we can really improve our animated prowess with passing time ?

5. Whether we can create something which we can be proud of ?

The answer to all of the above is - YES !!!

All we need is a different approach. We really need a new spirit, in the same fashion as what US is feeling now, with Barack Obama who will be at the helm of the affairs from 20 January 2009 !